Commercial Metal Stud Framing Overview
This book describes the special tools you’ll need and how to use them effectively, and the material and equipment you'll be working with. You’ll find the shortcuts, tips and tricks-of-the-trade that take most steel framers years on the job to discover. Shows how to set up a crew to maintain a rhythm that will speed progress faster than any wood framing job. If you've framed with wood, this book will teach you how to be one of the few top-notch metal stud framers.
Back Cover
Framing
commercial jobs can be extremely lucrative work. But most commercial work uses
some form of metal stud framing. If you've made your way up the trades framing
with wood, switching to steel framing can be a daunting experience.
With
this new book you'll quickly learn, step-by-step, the basic methods (and some
valuable tricks of the trade) to master high-speed metal stud framing in
commercial construction. If you're an experienced wood framer, you already have
many of the skills you'll need. This manual, written by a framer who runs work
for one of the largest metal stud contractors in the country tells you just
about everything you need to know to transfer those skills to metal stud framing
in commercial buildings.
Here
you'll find detailed instructions for:
-
structural walls
-
curtain walls
-
putting up headers
-
suspended ceilings
-
building soffits
-
hollow metal jambs
-
furring walls
-
fire-rated walls & ceilings
-
columns
-
hanging drywall on metal studs
You'll
also learn about the new tools, materials and equipment you'll need for framing
with steel, and how to use them safely and efficiently But what makes this book
especially valuable is the focus on how a crew can work together, setting up and
maintaining a rhythm that speeds you through the job quickly and accurately For
example, it tells you exactly what the framer on the ground should be doing
while you're up on the scaffold stuffing the top plate.
This
book is easy to read, conversational, and includes literally hundreds of job
site photos that show exactly how to assemble each part of the structure. Once
you see how the steel framing is done, you'll find it's considerably easier than
wood. But to earn top pay on a commercial site, you need more than just the
basics. You'll need the shortcuts, the proven techniques for dealing with
specific problems that stump the novice (and sometimes the super). Here you'll
find secrets the author has learned over the years, both from the old-timers who
showed him the ropes, and from his own experience as he worked around the
problems that come up on every job.
About
the Author
Ray
Clark has
for the past 15 years worked in several states in the residential and commercial
drywall and metal stud framing trades, sharing experience with other metal stud
framers across the country and mastering his craft under the guidance of some of
the nation's top framers.
He
has also taught framing in junior college, and it was while searching for a
clear, accurate text that he realized it was up to him to write one. This is the
first full-scale metal stud framing text, and he's filled it with the tips and
tricks that normally only years on the job can teach.
Commercial Metal Stud Framing
Introduction
Section I: Tricks of the Trade
Welcome
to the world of metal stud framing. My name is Ray Clark and I'll be your guide
to this challenging and rewarding trade. I've been working in the metal stud and
drywall trades for 15 years, and have taught these trades as a junior College
instructor. While teaching, I contacted publishers from coast to coast looking
for a text to use in my class. I couldn't find one. So I started writing one for
my class - and it evolved into this book.
To keep the information
simple, to the point, and useful for both journeyman wood carpenters and
apprentices alike, I've organized the book into two sections. The first, Tricks
of the Trade, focuses on the unique methods and techniques common to the metal
framing trade. The second, the Step-by-Step Methods section, concentrates on the
process and flow of work involved in framing metal stud walls, ceilings and
soffits. As we work through each chapter, I'll also introduce you to tools that
are common to the trade, but which may be new to you.
We'll cover the many
advantages of framing with metal studs as opposed to the traditional wood. The
most obvious is that metal studs won't burn, rot or become a termite buffet.
Structurally, as in bearing walls, metal studs are many times stronger than wood
studs, greatly reducing the amount of materials needed to support the load, as
well as the amount of time it takes to frame the job. And the fact that you
screw metal studs together as opposed to nailing wood studs also makes them
stronger and faster to assemble. The metal stud material doesn't dry out,
either, so warping, bowing and twisting aren't problems. That lets you build
straighter walls and flatter ceilings.
And
here's another advantage. Wood prices are lumping all over the place. You can
bid a job in January, based on lumber prices at that time, then get a nasty
surprise when you get the job and order the lumber in February. Maybe you'll
find an owner who's sympathetic and understanding about your request for more
money. But probably not. I never have. Steel, on the other hand, remains pretty
stable. Weather, politics, overharvesting, environmental issues, rarely come
into it. Plus, you don't have to worry about quality. Twenty-gauge steel is
20-gauge steel, no matter where it comes from. With wood, especially lately, you
never know what you'll get.
Commercial
metal stud projects range from small, tenant finish jobs that'll only take a few
hours to frame up, to extremely large project that often lost for a year or
more. Most metal stud contractors, whether union or not, will pay by the hour,
with wages ranging from a low of $7 in some areas of the country to $20-plus,
depending on your experience, in others. Many contractors also offer benefit
packages including health insurance and 401(k) plans, as well as paid vacations
and holidays.
In
this section we'll discuss some commonly used tricks of the trade in metal stud
construction. They're short- cuts and methods that have become standards of this
trade. Obviously, knowing the tricks of the trade gives you an edge. First,
it'll reduce the time it takes
you to reach journeyman status. Second, you'll know "what's going on"
when you begin working with a new partner or new outfit. In either case, the
result is the same. It'll help you become more proficient, which makes you a
better hand, which means you earn more money. Isn't that the reason you bought
this book?
Consider
this section as a reference guide that lets us cover the principles of metal
stud construction without getting sidetracked on the details of how to
accomplish each particular step. This is general knowledge you need under your
belt before you actually begin putting up metal stud walls. If you're already an
experienced wood carpenter, you may know some of this already. If that's the
case, skim through any familiar material in this first section. But I don't
recommend skipping anything entirely. You never know when you might pick up a
new idea or improved method. It's probably worth your time to read these first
four chapters just in case there's a trick or technique that's new for you. And
I'll bet there is. Nobody knows it all - not even the authors of books about it.
As
you put these methods to work, experience will quickly teach you in where you
can put them to work. You can also use this section as a reference guide in
connection with the step-by-step directions in the second section of the book.
Chapter 1
Wall
Methods
Reading
the Blueprints
Reading
blueprints and layout are subjects too large for us to cover thoroughly here.
There are many books available about both subjects. I'll only cover the
fundamentals of layout work and blueprint reading to give you a basic
understanding. Experience will teach you much more. If you need more
information, look at the order form in the back of the book for Blueprint
Reading for the Building Trades and Building Layout. In this chapter, I'll
just cover the basics of print notations.
Figure
1-1.
This shows a north or "magnetic north" arrow which points to
true north, and helps keep everything going in the same direction.
The
magnetic north arrow, shown in Figure 1-1, is located on the right-hand
side of each page of the prints. It helps keep all of the work on the job site
going the same direction.
The
detail symbol indicates a specialty item or condition in a wall, and
gives the location of a detailed drawing for the item. The detail symbol in
Figure 1-2 refers the reader to detail A (top letter) on page A2.4 (bottom
number). The detailed drawing is often called a cut.
The
wall legend, also known as a key (Figure 1-3), distinguishes the
various wall types in the prints. Each wall type in the legend has
a detailed description and a number. The wall numbers in the legend coincide
with wall numbers in the floor plan. The wall legend tells you what type of
metal stud framing material you'll use for each wall. It also lets you know
whether the wall is freestanding or framed to the deck. If it's a freestanding
wall, it also gives you the required height. The wall legend also indicates the
thickness, type and the number of layers of drywall used, and any insulation
materials.
Figure
1-4
The reflective ceiling plan shown here breaks this floor of the
building into "grid ceilings" and "hard lids." You can see a
large stair-step drop in the entry way in the rectangle grid near the bottom of
the plan. The lines around the rectangle show the separate widths of the
stair-steps. The detail symbol cutting through the drop will give the rest of
the information.
The
reflective ceiling section of the prints (Figure 1-4) gives all the
ceiling elevations and the material they're to be built of. Rooms that show
light grid lines have a grid ceiling, while clear rooms have a drywall ceiling.
The dimensions and elevations for soffits are also given in the reflective
ceiling plans, as well as the location of recessed lights and HVAC vents in the
ceiling. All elevations are finish elevations, so you've got to add the
thickness of the drywall to achieve the frame line elevation.
The
3-4-5 Squaring
Method
Let's
begin with one of the most basic tricks in construction-making a right angle
that's exactly 90 degrees. If you can't do that, you'll create problems that
will affect not only your work, but that of all the trades that follow you.
The
3-4-5 method is a simple way to square a perpendicular line off an established
wall or reference line using only your tape and pencil. It's accurate, it's easy
and it's faster than setting up a transit or loser to do the same job. There are
five steps in this method:
Step
1. Mark
a crow's-foot anywhere along the reference line (see Figure 1-5). That's your
starting point for the squaring process.
Step
2. From the first
crow's-foot, measure straight down the reference line 3 feet and mark a second
crow's-foot.
Step
3. From the 3-foot
mark, measure 4 feet off the reference line, as close to 90 degrees as
possible, and strike an arc approximately 1 foot long (shown in Figure 1-6).
As you draw the arc, hold the tape measure to the crow's-foot on one specific
edge of the tape. To ensure accuracy, you've got to hold the pencil on the
some edge of the tape while striking the arc. Striking the arc is easiest as a
two-man job. But if there's no help close by, drive a concrete pin into the
pivot point and hook the end of your tape to the pin.
Step
4. Return the end of
your tape measure to the first crow's-foot marked on the reference line, and
from there strike a second, intersecting arc at 5 feet (see Figure 1-7).
Step
5. Next,
pull a chalk line from the 3-foot crow's-foot on the reference line, through
the point where the two arcs intersect (Figure 1-8). Pull the chalk line quite
a ways past the intersecting arcs. Just be sure you can see the chalk line
pulling through the intersecting arcs. To square larger areas, double the
3-4-5 measurements to 6-8-10.
Laying
Out the Walls
Establishing
the reference lines and laying out the work area are the first steps in metal
stud framing. The layout work is critical to a quality frame job. That's why
it's entrusted to only the top hands on a job. The reference line (sometimes
called the gospel line) is the centerline of the job. All the other wall
lines will be established from the gospel line. It has to be right.
Establish
the gospel line by measuring the overall width of the concrete slab (or pad) at
the two opposite ends of the building. Or you can establish the gospel line from
the red iron columns to the structural steel. Then mark half of the overall
width at each end (Figure 1-9). Next, snap a chalk line from mark to mark. For
long slabs, use a loser to make multiple center reference marks so you can snap
a consistently straight chalk line. Finally, spray clear enamel over the chalk
line to protect it. You want it to last until the layout is complete.
Figure
1-9. Here you can see the center of an 80-foot slab marked near one end of
the pad.
With
the gospel line in place, your next move is to establish a perpendicular
reference line exactly 90 degrees to the gospel line. You can establish it with
ct transit or laser, or with the 3-4-5 or 6-8-10 method (as long as you do it
carefully and accurately).
Now
check the floor plan section of the blueprints to determine the layout of the
wall line. Begin with the exterior walls and then move to the interior, starting
on the long walls first. The hallways are a good starting point, for two
reasons:
-
They're long continuous walls you can use to establish other parallel wall lines.
-
The
hallways are among the few walls on a job that have very little tolerance
for variance. The Accessibility for the Disabled Act requires you to
meet stringent guidelines for width. Bathrooms are another area where wheel-
chair accessibility is very important, so you don't have much tolerance for
these walls either.
As
you lay out the wall lines, remember to allow for the thickness of the drywall.
Forget this and your walls will be more than an inch short. When the building
inspector takes out his tape measure, you're done for! All wall line dimensions
in the prints are Finished walls unless otherwise noted. You have to
consider all the thickness of all the layers of drywall. You'll find this
information in the wall legend section of the prints.
After
you've marked the starting walls (exterior walls and hallways), work your way
through the job from end to end, snapping all the long walls first. As you
figure the wall dimensions, mark them as close to the ends of the wall as
possible. Then snap a chalk line between the marks. It's common to add the width
of the framing material and snap a line for both sides of the bottom plate
(Figure 1-10). This eliminates a common mistake: plating the wrong side of a
wall line. Snapping a chalk line to both sides of a wall also makes it much
easier to mark the next wall, since you measure it from the wall you just
completed. If you don't snap both sides
of the plate, always mark an "X" on the side of the line where the
wall will sit (Figure 1-11).
Laying
Out the Doors and Windows
As
you're laying out the walls, it's important to lay out doors and windows at the
same time, completing each wall as you go. Square the wall lines off on both
sides of the door opening and clearly mark the, opening DOOR. Then write
the door number inside the opening and mark the swing of the door (Figure 1-12).
Lay out the opening for a door 4 inches wider than the door's width according to
the prints. The dimensions in the door schedule section of the prints are the
size of the door itself. You need to add 4 inches (2 inches on each side) for
the jamb.
After
you've chalked the wall lines, go back and lay out the windows. Write the window
number between the layout marks, as well as the elevation of the bottom of the
jamb. Figure 1-13 shows a properly laid-out window. The window studs are clearly
marked right at the wall line. The information (42" off FF 40" x
40") tells the framer that the bottom of the window jamb is 42 inches off
of the finish floor, and the window is 40 inches tall and 40 inches wide.
Every
outfit has its own customs, so you won't find windows laid out like this on
every job. It's also an accepted practice to lay out the window jambs after the
plate is shot down. In this case, the layout for the window studs is marked
along the edge of the plate with the layout for the studs. You can also use this
method for laying out items like fire extinguishers and tissue dispensers that
are recessed in the wall. Write their elevations inside the plate between the
stud layout marks. You'll find items recessed in a wall noted in the prints on
the wall line with a detail
symbol.
It's
important to maintain consistency in the window and door jamb elevations. It's
common to find an unlevel or poorly-floated pad that causes the top elevation of
the jambs to be uneven. In most cases, the jambs should have a common elevation
throughout a given work area. If they don't, it'll be noticeable when the room's
finished-and then it's too late. Make bench marks with a water level or transit,
or use a loser to make sure they're consistent.
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